The last year and a half was everything but regular. With the appearance of COVID-19, our world has changed forever. From the way we see flue-like symptoms to how we work and interact with others — nothing is the same anymore. However, it’s not just about washing your hands and wearing face masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus. It’s also about sex and how and how much we consume pornography.
During the first few months of the pandemic, the demand for videos in the porn industry was at an all-time high. This surge sprung numerous social media platforms with premium, exclusive-only content to skyrocket — we’re looking at you, OnlyFans. Moreover, the biggest and most well-known porn tube site, Pornhub, was all about taking the opportunity. After allowing users in some countries to watch premium content, they would extend their policy for the rest of the world.
But before we get into how porn videos and the industry are not the same as they once were, let’s take a brief stroll through their beginnings.
Getting in Touch With Porn Industry’s Background
For years, we’ve been into watching other people have intercourse. Numerous art revolves around the naked human body, male and female. However, it wasn’t until the mid-20th century when porn actually became what it is today — a product.
With adult magazines like Playboy and Hustler, men and women would masturbate to images of naked people in all sorts of positions and acts. Then came the ‘70s and smartly titled XXX videos. This was the Golden Age of Porn, and its demise was the internet.
By the end of the ‘90s, porn was all over the web. Major studios would have their official sites that still exist today but are not as popular as they were during the early noughties. Like all pop-culture industries, porn became and still is a victim of digital piracy.
Having Famous and Well-Known Personalities
Nevertheless, porn is still a force to be reckoned with. The industry’s revenue is almost $100 billion. It still has its special awards, similar to Oscars and Golden Globes, and some of its performers live like Hollywood stars. But who was porn’s first celebrity?
Nope! It wasn’t an actor or an actress, nor a director or a producer. It was the man himself — Hugh Hefner, the founder of Playboy. Although now deceased, Hefner made porn cool in social circles with his presence, style, and overall swagger.
Over time, many porn stars became actual celebrities themselves. From Jenna Jameson to Lisa Ann, not many people in your town don’t know their names. Pornography and its industry rely massively on these personalities, as they’re the reason why people need porn videos. It’s as simple as that.
Social Media Coined the “Sauce” Term
In case you visit porn sites from time to time, you might come across a certain term in the comments — sauce. And if you’re not that familiar with the internet and how people on it use modern slang, it stands for something that has a certain value. The same goes for pornography. Certain porn performers have that one thing, that X factor.
Interestingly enough, the amount of sauce is what dictates the demand for videos in the porn industry. It might be a type of scene, genre, or actors and actresses who participate in the shooting. Either way, the sauce is important for people who watch porn, and the industry is well-aware of it, casting performers over and over again.
Sex Toys Got More Attention
Although most people associate the porn industry only with videos of people having sex, it’s much more than that. Namely, the world of adult content is also about toys, gadgets, and physical products that you can use on yourself. Moreover, you can use these rude boys on yourself while watching a scene and get much more from it.
From classics like dildos and vibrators to high-tech toys like Wi-Fi sets of cock rings and butt plugs, your sex life can be in line with those of actors in scenes. Of course, performers use certain toys to market them during sex in front of the camera. The whole idea is to show people how to use them and how great they are.
In the last couple of years, VR porn has become the new big thing. The user puts on virtual reality goggles, attaches a wireless toy onto themselves, and plays a scene. Since all pieces of this jigsaw are connected, the way performers act on screen is the same way the toy will act on the user’s body. Amazing, isn’t it?
It Began During the Pandemic
Like we’ve said, the surge for porn once again skyrocketed during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since people didn’t go out, began working remotely, and were in quarantine, they had more free time on their hands. And for those who were single or simply hypersexual, what better to do than to masturbate? After all, Rosy Palmer and the Five Sisters were the only friends some folks had in lockdown.
When Italy and Spain were hotspots of the pandemic in Europe, Pornhub smartly decided to allow premium content to all users in those two countries. After a positive response from people on social media, the company would extend its policy for everyone. This alone made even those who’re not that into porn start up their laptops and open incognito tabs for some much-needed private time and free porn.
People Are in Need of More Funds
Another interesting thing that the combination of porn and a global pandemic got us to realize is that every other person is ready to sell their body for money. Namely, sites like OnlyFans had an enormous increase of new users and content creators during the first wave of the coronavirus crisis. But what does this have to do with anything?
Well, OnlyFans is a platform that allows everyone to become a porn star in a month’s time. It’s all about sexual exploitation. The site allows creators to sell exclusive images and videos to a fan base that pays a monthly fee. As such, ordinary folks began to create adult films and photos to make a living because of losing their jobs to lockdowns.
What Will Happen in the Future?
The number of people who watch pornography won’t go down in the future. However, the way we consume sex will change. Long gone are the days of the Golden Era of Porn and performers living like bona fide Hollywood stars. The reality is that everyone and anyone can become the new Jenna Jameson or Rocco Siffredi. All they need is a phone camera and a fast, stable internet connection, which everyone has in 2021.
Sites and platforms that offer exclusive content will change the way we interact with porn. Sure, there will still be free content online, but those videos will mostly be remnants of older times. New and exciting performers will be on OnlyFans and its derivatives, answering directly to their fans and their fantasies for premium fees. Yet, this isn’t a bad thing. For porn to exist, the industry needs to make money. Hence, sign up and support your favorite studios.